One Pan Mexican Quinoa
Wonderfully light, healthy and nutritious. And it’s so easy to make – even the quinoa is cooked right in the pan!

Despite my daily 3-mile runs, all the morning donuts have finally caught up with me. So Jason and I made a pact to lighten up our diet before our Cabo trip in 6 weeks. But instead of eating bland, boring salads, I decided to make a fun, healthy quinoa dish that we would both really enjoy.
And that’s exactly what this quinoa dish is. With a fun Mexican twist, this dish is chockfull of so many amazing flavors, from the tangy lime juice to the hint of spiciness from the chili powder and jalapeno. And not only is this healthy and nutritious but it’s also unbelievably easy to make. Simply throw everything into the skillet and that’s it. Even the quinoa is cooked right in the pan, really letting the flavors soak in.

Now who said healthy food has to be boring?

One Pan Mexican Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeno, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
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I have been making this often for several months. SO quick and easy and incredibly tasty and delicious!!! Can increase spice level or not. Terrific for last minute meals. It is a regular in our house. Much appreciated
I made this for my son who is vegetarian. The whole family enjoyed this recipe. The changes I’ve made is… I sautéed green pepper & red onion with the garlic. I will definitely make this again! Thank you for sharing.
This has been my go-to quinoa/easy/fast/delicious/re-heatable recipe for at least three years! Thanks for a great recipe!
Holy Cow , this is amazing. Added “Monkey and Me” Cilantro Lime Sauce, because I had some leftover and no other fresh cilantro. I want to eat it every day for the rest of my life!!! Also it is zero Weight Watchers Points on the new purple .
Pat, how can it be zero points with the olive oil and avocado?
When you split 1 tbs. of olive oil and a small amount of avocado into 4 different portions it 0’s out in points. If you eat more of it that just the 1 portion it may wind up being a couple of points, but not much more than 2 or so.
Excellent. It’s one of my favorite go to recipes. Thank you
Easy. Fast. Nutritious. Delicious. Simples!
great easy recipe!
what is serving size though?
An amazingly simple to put together yet absolutely delicious dish!! Great for a weeknight meal and will definitely make it again! Thank you!
So many good reviews and they aren’t exaggerating!! I make this at least once a week, and often double it… Which makes a LOT, but somehow it’s never enough. We love to throw leftovers into a tortilla over spinach or arugula and make burritos for lunch. I share the recipe with everyone.
I made this for guests who are eating a plant-based diet these days and it was a big hit with everyone! It was also delicious the next day, eaten cold as a quinoa salad with a squeeze of fresh lime to wake up the flavors.
This is my all-time favourite recipe… ever! Honestly, if I had to pick one meal that I’d eat every day for the rest of my life, this would be it. This is the recipe that I always use to introduce my friends and family to damn delicious! Super easy to make, beautiful colour presentation, and the flavour is perfect. A Mexican fiesta in your mouth! I’ve also made this to bring as a hot appetizer to potlucks. Instead of scooping into bowls, you serve it up with taco chips – the zesty lime taco chips are amazing with this recipe. As a meal or as an appetizer, you can’t go wrong! The only thing I change, is I use handfuls of cilantro instead of just 2 TBS (love my cilantro!) and I skip the cumin because it’s not for me. Easy recipe to tweak to your personal preferences! You can’t go wrong!
made this recipe last night, and it was a hit! my grandmother absolutely loved it and told me that i NEED to make this every week. i love these recipes and the family does too. they are very flexible, quick, and easy!
We love this recipe. We toss a whole can each of corn, kidney beans, black beans and then two 10.5 cans of rotel tomatoes. We make this into mini burritos for my two year old. One of her favorites!
I live by myself and cooking is not my forte. This has made it’s way into my regular meal-prep rotation fast and easy to make but also super tasty… I love it!
I like to make potatoes wedges and make this into a nacho type thing… the potatoes being the “chips” and the quinoa being the chili.
So flavorful and easy! I added an extra cup of veggie broth and it was amazing. The family agreed to put it in our rotation, and wished we had tortilla chips. Very versatile.
This is one of our go-to super easy, super good, super quick recipes. A few years ago, I decided to slowly but surely start eliminating as much meat from my diet as possible. This recipe was one of the first I stumbled across, and it has become one of my absolute favorites. My husband refers to it as “the yummy quinoa with the beans and corn and avocado in it” and he actually requests it from time to time! I like to meal prep on Sundays to have quick microwaveable meals during the week. This recipe holds up really great – even the avocado! – and I usually will make 6 meals instead of 4 if I divvy it up evenly and add another protein. We love it!
I like this recipe, but you should add to rinse the quinoa first! Not all is pre-rinsed and some people react badly to the saponin, as well as it will taste bad
Looks great, so colorful.
Omg! So yummy! I follow the recipie to a T and we get several meals out of it. Even my 2 year old loves it. I just love the fact that it’s basically a complete meal that happens to be vegan and iss soo delicious! Good job to the chef.
This dish was absolutely delicious, and very filling. I added mushrooms and onions. The sour cream was excellent on top.